A full interior repaint of a three-bed house in Surrey costs between £2,800 and £5,500, depending on the house, the spec and how much woodwork comes with it. The most useful way to understand that figure is to walk the house with a decorator and watch the total build, room by room, the way a real quote does. Take a typical three-bed semi in Woking and start at the front door.
The Hallway, Stairs And Landing: £650 To £950
The most expensive single space in the house, and the one homeowners always underestimate. The stairwell wall rises two storeys, which means a scaffold tower or specialist ladders, slower work and more risk. Add a spindled bannister, which requires hours of brush time, plus the skirting that runs the whole route, and this zone alone can swallow three days. It also takes the worst scuffing in the house, so decorators often specify tougher paint here, nudging materials up. Running total: about £800.
The Living Room: £450 To £700
A straightforward space made slower by its details: a bay window with its many mullions, an alcove on either side of the chimney breast, perhaps a picture rail. Walls and ceiling move quickly; the joinery sets the pace. Mid-range figure £575. Running total: roughly £1,375.
The Kitchen And Dining Space: £400 To £600
Less wall area than you would guess once the units take their share, yet the fiddliest cutting in of the entire job, tight against cupboards, tiles, sockets and extractor ducting. Grease needs washing off before paint goes anywhere near, and a wipeable finish costs slightly more per tin. Call it £500. Running total: near £1,875.
Three Bedrooms: £350 To £550 Each
The production line of the job. Clear rectangular rooms with a window, a door and a run of skirting let a professional find a rhythm, and prices per room drop accordingly. The master with fitted wardrobes sits at the top of the band, the box room at the bottom. Three rooms at an average of £450 add £1,350. Running total: about £3,225.
Bathroom And En Suite: £250 To £400 Each
Small spaces, big humidity. Both need moisture-resistant bathroom paint to stop steam lifting the finish within a year, and working around sanitaryware slows the brush. Two wet rooms add roughly £600. Running total: around £3,825 for a fully repainted interior at a sensible mid-range spec.
What Pushes The Walk Above £5,000
Several things, all predictable. A furnished, occupied house costs more than an empty one, since moving and sheeting furniture eats up paid hours daily. Fresh plaster needs a mist coat. Strong existing colours need extra coats to bury. Premium paint brands add £40 to £70 per room in materials alone. And glossing every piece of woodwork in the house, doors, both sides, frames, windows, skirting, can add £1,000 by itself, which is why quotes should always state whether woodwork is in or out.
Why Whole-House Beats Room-By-Room
Booking the entire job at once costs noticeably less than seven separate bookings, because set-up, travel and sheeting happen once instead of seven times, and a two-person team works through a house in eight to twelve days. The best painter and decorator in Surrey will walk your actual rooms exactly as this article just did, pricing each space aloud, and the final number should reconcile with the tour rather than appearing from thin air. If a quote arrives as one bald figure with no walk and no breakdown, the walk is the part they skipped, and it will not be the last corner cut.
